Understanding the pathology of anisakiasis has come mainly from examining individual cases.

 

The first human case was reported in the Netherlands in 1960, and the incidence increased dramatically until the passage of legislation that required freezing raw herring for 24 hours, thereby decreasing the parasite load in the fish.

 

Since its first report in 1963, Japan has revealed itself to be a major endemic area. By 1988, over 1000 individual cases had been reported.

 

There have been 50 cases in the U.S. to date, mostly in Alaska and California. The San Francisco Bay Area has reported 3 of those cases!